Perspectives on Imitation, Volume 1 From Neuroscience to Social Science - Volume 1: Mechanisms of Imitation and Imitation in Animals

by Hurley, Susan; Chater, Nick

• ISBN13: 9780262582506
• ISBN10: 0262582503
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-18
• Publisher: Bradford Books

Summary

Imitation is not the low-level, cognitively undemanding behavior it is often assumed to be, but rather-along with language and the ability to understand other minds-one of a trio of related capacities that are fundamental to human mentality. In these landmark volumes, leading researchers across a range of disciplines provide a state-of-the-art view of imitation, integrating the latest findings and theories with reviews of seminal work, and revealing why imitation is a topic of such intense current scientific interest. Perspectives are drawn from neuroscience and brain imaging, animal and developmental psychology, primatology, ethology, philosophy, anthropology, media studies, economics, sociology, education, and law. These volumes provide a resource that makes this research accessible across disciplines and clarifies its importance for the social sciences and philosophy as well as for the cognitive sciences. As a further aid to cross-fertilization, each volume includes extensive interdisciplinary commentary and discussion. The first volume considers possible mechanisms of imitation, including discussion of mirror systems, ideomotor and common coding theories, and the possibility of "shared circuits" for control, imitation, and simulation, and then takes up imitation in animals, with illuminating comparisons to human imitation. The second volume focuses first on the roles of imitation in human development and in learning to understand the minds of others, and then on the broader social and cultural roles and functions of imitation, including discussions of meme theory and cultural evolution, and of the pervasive imitative tendencies of normal adults and their relevance for understanding the effects of the media on human behavior.

Author Biography

Susan Hurley is Professor at the University of Warwick, and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.

Nick Chater is Professor of Behavioural Science at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick.

Table of Contents

Volume 1 Mechanisms of Imitation and Imitation in Animals
Contents of Volume 2	ix
Introduction: The Importance of Imitation
Susan Hurley and Nick Chater	1	(52)
I Mechanisms of Imitation	53	(170)
1 The Mirror Neuron System and Imitation
Giacomo Rizzolatti	55	(22)
2 Understanding Others: Imitation, Language, and Empathy
Marco Iacoboni	77	(24)
3 "Being Like Me": Self-Other Identity, Mirror Neurons, and Empathy
Vittorio Gallese	101	(18)
4 The Neurophysiology of Imitation and Intersubjectivity
Jean Decety and Thierry Chaminade	119	(22)
5 An Ideomotor Approach to Imitation
Wolfgang Prinz	141	(16)
6 Imitation by Association
Cecilia Heyes	157	(20)
7 The Shared Circuits Hypothesis: A Unified Functional Architecture for Control, Imitation, and Simulation
Susan Hurley	177	(18)
8 Commentary and Discussion on Mechanisms of Imitation
8.1 Reflections on Mirror Systems
J.N.P. Rawlins on Rizzolatti and on Decety and Chaminade	195	(5)
8.2 Action Recognition, Imitation, and Language Are Different
Michael Arbib on Iacoboni	200	(3)
8.3 Evidence for Memetic Drive?
Susan Blackmore on Iacoboni	203	(2)
8.4 The Role of Mirror Neurons in Imitation
Susan Jones on Gallese	205	(5)
8.5 Overlapping Brain States while Viewing and Doing
Marcel Kinsbourne on Decety and Chaminade	210	(5)
8.6 Action, Ideation, and Perception
Michael Arbib on W. Prinz	215	(2)
8.7 The Application of Ideomotor Theory to Imitation
Merlin Donald on W. Prinz	217	(1)
8.8 How to Analyze Learning by Imitation
Bennett Galef on Heyes	218	(2)
8.9 The Imitative Correspondence Problem: Solved or Sidestepped?
Andrew Whiten on Heyes	220	(3)
II Imitation in Animals	223	(80)
9 Detecting, Understanding, and Explaining Imitation by Animals
Richard W. Byrne	225	(18)
10 Insights into Vocal Imitation in African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus)
Irene M. Pepperberg	243	(20)
11 Selective Imitation in Child and Chimpanzee: A Window on the Construal of Others' Actions
Andrew Whiten, Victoria Horner, and Sarah Marshall-Pescini	263	(22)
12 Commentary and Discussion on Imitation in Animals
12.1 Imitation in Animals: Function versus Mechanism and the Issue of Novelty
Thomas Zentall on Byrne	285	(2)
12.2 Novelty and Complexity: Two Problems in Animal (and Human) Imitation
Birgit Elsner on Byrne	287	(3)
12.3 Do Parrots (and Children) Emulate Speech Sounds?
Richard W. Byrne on Pepperberg	290	(3)
12.4 Some Reflections on Imitation in Human Language
Martin J. Pickering on Pepperberg	293	(2)
12.5 Breathing New Life into the Study of Imitation by Animals: What and When Do Chimpanzees Imitate?
Bennett Galef on Whiten, Horner, and Marshall-Pescini	295	(2)
12.6 Why Don't Apes Ape More?
Susan Jones on Whiten, Horner, and Marshall-Pescini	297	(6)
Bibliography for Volumes 1 and 2	303	(74)
Contributors to Volumes 1 and 2	377	(4)
Index to Volume 1	381	(28)
Index to Volume 2	409